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Appalachian trail caches

Hello,
Had someone ask me today about hiding caches, didn't get his name, but he asked who does one ask for permission to hide a cache along the appalachian trail. I told him I wasn't sure.

I have looked at the maps and there looks to be some great scenic spots to hide a cache. I would be curious for future reference if anyone knows who to ask about this or does one need to?? I have read numerous pages on the geocaching.com web site which says to obtain permission from the landowner or managing agency of the land, but how does one determine who that is??

Thanks for the help.

geohikemaine

P.S. He saw my license plate "GEOHIKE" and realized I was a cacher, had that happen a few times lately.

wbdent**** You have hit a spot that holds true to me on this. But this is my opinion and I am sure that the ATC would agree with me if asked.

wbdent**** I would discourage hiding caches on the Appalachian Trail for the fact that it is hard enough to keep the trail maintained now with the maintenance required on it each year. If you have any doubts about how much maintenance is done each year on the trail get a hold of one of the Appalachian Trail clubs and talk to them.

wbdent**** You are absolutely right there are lots of places that would be awesome spots to put them on the trail here in Maine. I could list over 100 probably off the top of my head right now. But this would encourage people to leave the trail and rummage through the woods and underbrush destroying parts of the trail. Right now the ATC and all the clubs try to discourage even leaving the trail during a hike. It is called Leave No Trace. I know that talking to them about placing a cache would be out of the question. I personally would strongly discourage it unless it was a virtual cache.

wbdent To answer your question I think one would need to contact the ATC in Harpers Ferry.

Geocacxhing.com prohibits caches on land maintained by the US National Park Service. The Appalacian Scenic Trail is one of those. I ran into this problem when I placed my "Moxie Trail Crossing" cache (someone jumped all over me about it...) and we later moved it to make sure it was not in the trail's right of way.

When I was in Virginia recently looking for a few caches I found that there were many geocaches located along the AT there. I wonder if those caches were placed without permission? Here is a few caches that I came across:

One thing I've noticed is that precedence is meaningless at GC.com. You won't get anywhere with a reviewer by citing someone else's bad idea. Once they decide not to allow something, they don't always archive the old way, but they do not allow it to happen again.

You could make an Earthcache. With an Earthcache, there is no need to leave the trail or cause any damage other that what is normally done by hiking.

But, all Earthcaches are virtuals, so you won't be able to trade McToys on the trail. And, you must be able to use the place as a means to explain something about earth science. This is usually not a problem as most spectacular places are that way due to some kind of interesting natural phenomenon.

If a cache places an undue burden on the AT, why is it ok to place them on any trail? Iím not suggesting that we should place regular caches anywhere they are not allowed, but rather asking if we are doing wrong by placing caches on heavily used trails. Perhaps the rules need to do more to require and enforce using durable surfaces for access?

So I guess I have to agree with TAT. Why wouldn't any trail be off limits? Why is it OK to place a cache on someone elses land then let cachers tear up there property? Kinda the same thing isn't it? We all try to put things back where we found them but you can still see where they have been. Caches that have been placed for awhile usually have a path beaten to them. While it would be nice to think that cachers "leave no trace" the foot path to a cache are a "trace". This is one of those things where will it truely make that much difference to the enviroment if a few cachers go to a cache. If it does then I recommend Virts for everything and do away with the McToys. If a cache was expected to have hundreds of cachers visit it then I would worry.